Animal shackling apparatus



u u m Q July 4, 1950 L. E. KAHN ETAL ANIMAL sHAcxLING APPARATUS Filed May 16, 1946 Patented July 4, 1950 ANIMAL suriname-APPARATUS..

Louisf. Kahn andfHerSchelsNble., Cincinnati-f- OhloLasnsignQrs to The E.. KahnswsonsQClif.. p any, C1ncinnati, 0hio, a GQEIlorationloffOlilio' Anplatin..m% .16,l A1946, .serial No., 670,075.`

slclaims. (c1. 17 2 4) This1 invention,:relatesstoan animal shackling apparatus' fOr use .in meat- .packing .plants and One of thaobjecftsf theinventon. iS ,to pro-. vide a -;.Saf e..and convenient means l of.- Shackling ani-mals .inpreparationsfor theirslallghter.-

Another objectof.. the invention is to provide a-. rr1-- a1f1sE Whelteby. relatiyely .unskilled Workmen may shackle animals in .meat packing. plants.

lingapparatuss Fis Zais.a-.sidelevaiion of-the.apparatus..

houses.thaanimalaane shackledand suspended... ata convenient height.. In. former.. practice it; was..ne..essary. .f0r*Shep-workman. to enter a, pen.,

squatdownf-von thefflqorin order. to erasna hind.,

thereofin preparatiallior. delivery t0 thekillng room.; This..pnocedilrarequredva. greatdealnf Skil-,1; farisaexperience 0n.,A th Part Ofi the.. ,animal shacklea v andi .subjected himta acertan alacant of?. aaa-ganan nisclose assoiatiomwtn a. peni?.

of milling, excited animals. MQ QverLthe wo was hgliilyyfatiguin I and laborious, and there! fore...notqcondgciygofefciency in the operation of the plant.

The present invention... obviates ,the foregoing ob.iections-V Referring .,t .'he. drawings, Figs 1 shows a double unit of 'the anirnalnaclglinaaply.

paratus as,seen from, l above' Thewanimals` to be shackled yin preparationy v{Orl-slaughter are 2; 'I'l'iel railingn l 5^ c onfipletely. encloses-tlie outer, side 0f tha-runway its. @mirar-:lengths Wh: the? railings.;lyhaaanvenenme- Il (Seellia 4)" at its.' terminus, ,ad-ja entto thefoperatorfs vstatioiil,

l. 0 .theytial 999543. bfi.. an@ escapa-waa 43, .t0 fvbefmsare. fully. described.,

fromfthe ,opening l y 2 l..- thrsueh .puller 2.2; .;bltfolt 'Q'1'1if523-V The shftiusafllg 2.5 Q fithflollrsfmayrbe J-,laledj 11i-the suRp9rtSf..2-.and, 2.1.. WhiCh. a10.ngE-Wt1i "28,' wat; Tqfgivaf rigidity-ltd the? 1 snep@ -;-in -the.f0rm 0f a Plaie long-other suitable material; may be.. 0 .easaffr .Cleaning thaqnveyct the .enacted atonaend 3. permitting'- tha plate: tof, loe-.lovend a-fthe; other end; a as at 3|, thus facilitating flushing orf scrapingzopera-W tions Said-,plate makbesupported at said other endbymeans-.of the pins'f32, removable'for-.disf placingthe plateqfromiits ,normal supporting the animals Ato-"loe` f ugh-either 012612:,` r 1.3,. aridf are-ad:

lasnglefflafto the envian uatil...thev rea@ mir-afina sheathing.; Opf...

As hereiahefcrwxplained herde'd vinto the receiving pen'f", which containlsg` Y i rampsA 9 leading. .through theopenings .l l!" i a Wall'fll, ari-d1 totheendIeSS: conveyors l?i jefa. runways I4. 'Illia.runwaysmaycbeone or more in number, depending on the number of animals to, b e processed, and are-fat asuitable elevationl from the floor for-the convenience of theJoperators. Dividing and confining rails or walls are indicated at 6 and 1.

Each runway is enclosed on opposite sides by suitable means, such as pipe rails, fencing, etc.

' tonne; fonnerf. method oiafshaslsllnai ani-mal wherein it was necessary for the shackler to assume a squatting position in a pen of excited animals in order to apply the shackle chains. The present invention enables inexperienced workmen to do the work that once required skilled operators.

The hoist 36, which may be one of several available on the market, is of the endless chain type, comprising in combination a series of hooks 35 suitably spaced along the entire length of the endless chain 31,*,whichis in rconstant motion in the direction of the arrow. The hoist includes rollers or sprockets 38 and 39 over which the chain travels, and a frame 40 in which are disposed suitable tracks or guides to carry the chain and hooks upwardly with their load' of shackled animals, and other standard mechanisms vnot shown on the drawing. The frame 40 may be a plate or the like for supporting the weight o f the chain 3l and animals carried by the chain and may be grooved or otherwise shaped to receive the chain. As is obvious, the loaded hoist enters the killing room, where the shackled animals are slaughtered in preparation for further processing and removed from the hoist, the chain and hooks of which returnpver thesprockets 38 and 39 ready to receive other shackled animals at the `operators working ystation I8. In

the exemplication herein illustrated, a double hoist is situated parallel to an'dbetween'the runways of a double unit shackling vapparatus'.

closing substantially the lower half of the escape'cage. The lowerendpf the cage may be supported by legs '50-'-'5`. V'Io Vcontrol the advancement of animals by theV conveyor, suitable means suchas a pedal-operated switch 49 may g be furnished vat the operatorsy station, to selec` tively open and close'thecircuit of Inotor 2| by way of `conductors*52. As a'further convenience for the operator, the escape cage may be disposed obliquely to the longitudinal axis of runway I4,

as shown in Figs. :1 and 3, whereby easier access may be had to the hooks 35 of the hoist after the operator has shackledfthe animalsl since he is not required toturn Acompletely around to reach the hooks behind him. I

As noted, the smooth oor of the escape cage is inclined downwardly iromthe end of the runway, an arrangement which makes it difficult for an animal to back up after it leaves theconveyor 4of the runway andreachestheinclined 4 the runway, thus eliminating the railings I5 shown on the drawing. The shackling apparatus may in some cases consist of a single runway, in which event a single animal hoist might be arranged parallel to the runway and immediately behind the operators station I8. The hoist herein disclosed` is of a common type, but may incorporate variations of structure i'nadapting it to particular circumstances of'installation, as will be understood.

What is claimed is:

l. Animal shackling apparatus comprising in combination, a moving hoist, an elevated driven endless conveyor for advancing live animals toward the hoist, an entrance ramp at 'one end of the conveyor, an escape cage at the other end thereof, and animal confining means along the shackling and attachment to the hoist.

2. Animal shackling apparatus comprisingin combination, a moving hoist, an elevated driven endless conveyor for advancing liver animals toward the hoist, anentrance ramp at one end I vof the conveyor, an escape cage at the other end thereof, animal conning means along the conveyor, including a railing extending from' thef entrance ramp to approximately the location `olf the escape cage, the railing having an overhang-` g ling portion in advanceuof the cage prvidingyan access opening at one `side of the conveyor, at which the animals are rendered accessible for shackling and attachment to the hoist, and a supporting plate beneath the conveyor to carry f, the weight of the animals imposed upon the confloor Vof the escape cagefsince ythearixrial loses-its power of rearward llocomotionI when'the forefeet are placed on a lower plane than the hindffeei'l'.` This is an anirralv characteristic well known to those skilledinthefart of'meatpacking.v

The structure' herein Vdescribed and illustrated' :is to be considered-typicalonexemplary'fonly;as

l fue of uns patenu the, installation'f mayf requirev "modiiication in adapting it tofexisting;'equipment'and limita. tions oiiered at the site oferection. Accord# ingly, it is 'to'.be'understod `tl'iat'various structural changes may be 'made within-'i',l'1e':sc'ope:of.I

, the appended claims, withoutfr lepartigfrom'the.,z

spirit of the invention. For instance',V the Walls of a buildinglmay form the outer enclosure'of veyor, the plate being displaceable for cleaningl purposes. v Y 3. Animal shackling apparatus' comprisingin combination, angelevated and confined endlessv conveyor, means for driving the conveyor, amoving hoist. arranged to carry animals from the conveyor to al higher elevation, ashackling station for the conveyor at which animals' are rendered accessible yfor shackling andattachment to the hoist, a ramplat one end of said conveyor leading the animals onto the conveyor, and an escape cage at the opposite end of the conveyor beyond the shackling station, said cage Vincluding a downwardly inclined smooth floor constituting a slide to displacev animals passing the shackling station, said escape cage being closed to' prevent escape of the animals. y 'l if' LOUIS E. KAHN. w

HERSCHEL' NOBLE.

. .Y REFERENCES lCITED Thefollowingl references are' ci Irecord in the UNITED STATES .PATENTS Number Name t ...Date

`'712,5'79 Nicholson et al.` Nov. 4, 1902 2,136,228 4Babson et al. Nov. 8, 1938v FOREIGN PATENTS y, Number 1: Country l v 4Date n 666,024k Germany je -Oct. 8, 1338 

